The Friday Five: March 2, 2012
Friday Five : ‘frī-(,)dā,-dē ‘fīv : On the sixth day of every week, I hit the shuffle button on my iTunes, then share the first five tracks and thought for each track. Sometimes there is a playlist involved, occasionally we’ll have a guest, but most of the time it’s just me. The rest is up to you, our friends and readers! Fire up your media player of choice and share the first five random track of your shuffle in the comments.
The Five:
“Nice Guys” by We Are Scientists (from Barbara, 2010)
I love tripping over songs that I forgot about. Ironically, the music blogosphere completely forgot about We Are Scientists by the time this release came out, which is a damn shame as it contains some of their strongest songs.
“The Stars of Track and Field” by Belle and Sebastian (from If You’re Feeling Sinister, 1996)
Oh, the toothache! Now with 90% more trumpet!
I kid, because I care. I stumbled onto Belle and Sebastian during my stint working at a record store in the mid-’90s. Yes, an actual record store.
“Long Kiss Goodnight” by The Notorious B.I.G. (from Life After Death, 1997)
Goddammit, Diddy is one annoying motherfucker.
“Leave in Silence (longer)” by Depeche Mode (from A Broken Frame, 1982)
Just lovely.
“Granny” by Dave Matthews Band (from Warehouse 8, Volume 3, 2007)
“Love! Baby!” Nothing like wrapping up another Friday Five with a little bit of love. To quote my friend Dennis, “Hope you all hear something good this weekend!”
What’s on your shuffle today?
7 Comments
Phil
Foo Fighters – “But Honestly” (Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, 2007)
Dave Grohl has to be one of the hardest-working people in rock music today, and say what you will, I like most everything he’s ever done on one level or another. “But Honestly” is no different. I love the simplicity of first half of the song with just Dave’s voice and acoustic guitar and how it builds into this whole other stadium rock anthem thing.
Glen Phillips – “Cleareyed” (Winter Pays for Summer, 2005)
Fingers crossed that iTunes continues to serve up a good Friday Five. Glen Phillips is one of my favorite songwriters, and again, there’s not much he does that I don’t like. Winter Pays for Summer should have been a breakthrough album for the former Toad the Wet Sprocket singer, but I’m beginning to realize that I just don’t understand the music industry. At all.
Victor – “Victor” (Victor, 1996)
Uh-oh, here’s where iTunes goes wonky on me. This comes from a solo album Rush’s Alex Lifeson released under the project name Victor. The title track bears absolutely no resemblance to anything Rush has ever released, and if you didn’t already know this was Lifeson, you wouldn’t believe it. While most of the album features former I Mother Earth singer Edwin on vocals, “Victor” is a spoken-word track of sorts with Lifeson handling the “vocals.” Victor is mostly made up of heavier, post-modern alterna-rock-styled tunes, but this one is just plain strange.
The Scooters – “Throw Your Arms Around Me (Live)” (Peepshow, 2000)
I’m not sure how I came across the Scooters, but given the catchy pop tunes and sweet vocal harmonies, I’m guessing it was probably from my favorite rock ‘n’ roll snob Jay. This particular song is a live cover of a tune from the Australian band Hunters & Collectors, and while it strips away the decidedly 80s feel of the original, it is so unlike the rest of the Peepshow EP that you can’t use it as the measuring stick to judge whether you would like the rest of the album.
Thin Lizzy – “Romeo and the Lonely Girl” (Jailbreak, 1976)
This is not my favorite Thin Lizzy tune, but the more I listen to Phil Lynott’s work, the more I find to like. This is a good way to close out today’s Friday Five.
iTunes, you did alright by me this week.
EightE1
Just occurred to me that I haven’t posted here in a couple weeks. Where’s my head been?
Anyway …
Ryan Adams, “Ashes & Fire”
Death Cab for Cutie, “Home is a Fire”
Damien Jurado, “Reel to Reel”
Black Keys, “Nova Baby”
Joseph Arthur, “No Surrender Comes for Free”
Michael Parr
Yeah, where the hell have you been?
dslifton
“World Inside The World” – Rhett Miller. I love Jon Brion, but I think he overproduced The Instigator. This is one of the few songs where he kept things to a minimum and let Rhett’s great song shine.
“A Nickel & A Nail” – O.V. Wright. One of southern soul’s most underrated belters.
“Sweet Black Angel” – The Rolling Stones. Exile On Main Street’s ode to Parr’s mom.
“A Murder Of One” – Counting Crows. What Parr is going to perform after reading what I just wrote.
“Walking The Blues” – Johnny Cash. A little Johnny Cash on a Friday is always a good way to start the weekend.
Michael Parr
*slow clap*
(Or, what Lifton’s mom gave me last year.)
Dennis Corrigan
Waiting impatiently Springsteen on Fallon tonight (and knowing full well I’ll probably fall asleep):
1. “Stevie Nicks” by The Hold Steady from Separation Sunday – sex, drugs, Catholicism. 2. “Anyway You Want It’ by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers from the Live Anthology. The covers on this set are generally great. This one not so much.
3. “Old Love” by Eric Clapton from 24 Nights. A 13+ minute take on a song from Journeyman. Being faithful to the Five, I’ll listen to all of it, but it’s another strike against my making it to 12:30
4. “Crescent City” by Lucinda Williams from her eponymous ’88 release. Had to rouse myself after that last one, but really like Lucinda’s homage to New Orleans
5. “Don’t Look Back” by Bruce Springsteen from Tracks – It’s a sign!
Hope you hear something great this weekend!
dslifton
I saw Clapton on that tour (supporting Journeyman). That solo on Old Love was the highlight. I think it was like five minutes long and every note crushed.